Artículo | 04 Ago, 2016

Strengthening responsibility and accountability of the private sector and state for ecosystem degradation

By Jennifer Mohamed-Katerere and Omer Aijazi Theme on Environment, Conflict and Security (CEESP TECS)

Should the linkages between ecosystems damage from economic activity, human well-being and conflict be conceptualized as assaults on human rights, social and economic justice? Should the state and private sector be held accountable for the negative multiplier consequences of economic practices that destroy ecosystems, appropriate land and water, and reduce cultural and ecological diversity? What forms of accountability systems can ensure this?  By recognizing environmental destruction as an ecological crime, a crime against humanity, and a crime against peace, can we contribute to human security, well-being, and peace? How do we protect our environmental defenders? How do we build a secure, prosperous and peaceful future in the face of intensive, extractive economies?   Join CEESP in an exploratory workshop at the World Conservation Congress, Hawaiʻi and participate in a dialogue on the values and governance approaches needed for improving accountability and responsibility. 

These questions posed above are critical for the future of the rich, complex ecological systems on which we all depend. Economic practices involving extractive logics, which favour intensive production and generate external benefits, can escalate the social, cultural and environmental burdens that local communities carry. Such practices unsettle the fundamental linkages between biodiversity, ecosystems and people, disrupting livelihoods and deepening inequities. As a result, impacted communities have to face new challenges related to health, clean water and air as well as other insecurities that reduce capacities to learn, work and lead socially- and politically-engaged lives. Similarly, displacement, such as that from land acquisition, often affect local food production increasing food insecurity, disrupting social relations and undermining local resilience.

Not surprisingly, according to the United Nations Environment Programme Green Economy Report, many economic activities directed at improving the “national growth index” have devastating impacts on ecosystems and those who rely on them for their wellbeing. These include intensive agricultural zones and transport corridors that disrupt local productive systems and entitlements including rights to land. In Tanzania, for example, the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (SAGGOT) has resulted in conflicts with pastoral communities whose livelihoods have been compromised.

In some contexts, legal systems are directly accessible by social activists, as exemplified by the public international court action at The Hague on climate change obligations. In other contexts, legal systems favour elites, providing only weak mechanisms for securing rights. In March 2016, for example, the World Bank lent Tanzania USD 70 million and waived the Government of Tanzania obligation to abide by the banks Indigenous Peoples Policy. In circumstances such as these – where legal and political avenues for protecting human rights are weak and coincide with other conflict drivers (such as environmental stressors, poverty, inequity and other cultural and economic variables) – conflict can ensue.

Strengthening opportunities for holding the private sector and state accountable for human rights abuses linked to economic development, including environmental destruction, is of critical importance to securing peaceful and prosperous futures for us all. This is particularly important in the contexts of Africa, Asia and Mesoamerica but also arises on indigenous lands in developed countries. Additionally, we must take note of locally-grounded social actions, including protests and social movements around land and water rights, which are on the rise globally as peoples’ responses to hegemonic economic practices and discourses.

We hope you will join us in this exploratory dialogue and engage with the experiences, perspectives and stories of community activists, the UN Special Rapporteur on Environment and Human Rights as well as contributors from Southern Africa Resource Watch, environmental law, and social-ecological justice. We anticipate a generative and critical discussion on these difficult yet important questions, necessary for the creation of resilient and just futures.